Friday, July 8, 2011

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I have been lucky enough to spend my birthday these last two years on tour in Europe. Last year, if you may or may not remember, was spent in Lubeck, Germany… where I started the day with a vitamin C filled shot of Fanta “Plus” deliciousness given to me by Sabrina. Let’s look back on that moment, shall we?

NTP!!!

This year, the “demur,” brunette Sabrina thought she’d be a little more tour appropriate and surprised me with this buh-mazing deliciousness:

Sabrinta Clause is my new favorite mythical gift giver!!!

So here’s the back story on why this is so amazing. Those seven years ago when I went to visit Mallory in Maastricht she not only introduced me to real Belgian waffles but to the heaven that is Speculoos cookies. Originally made during the Christmas holiday season (the spices involved are cinnamon, ginger, pepper, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg), they have become available year round in recent decades. Up until a couple of years ago, however, you could only get your fix in the form of a cookie.

As my host mother explained, there was an invention competition in Belgium and the winning idea ended up being a woman who created a Speculoos paste (like peanut butter) which then snowballed into a lot of other Speculoos flavored items, like the Cote d’Or chocolate you see above as well as…

ICE CREAM!!!!!

And yes… I did try every variety I could get my hand on. The best, though, was when Vera brought out her Speculoos mousse/custardy deliciousness of a dessert:

I’m actually surprised there was even a chance to take this picture given how quickly I inhaled it.

What a fantastic early (and unexpected) birthday treat from Sabrina!! Full disclosure, I am about a whole city behind on the blog and though I have just gotten back from spending my 27th hiking in the Alps you won’t be hearing about it until a bit later… next blog stop is Eberbach, Germany!